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Squirrels And Rabbit Holes- Unexpected Questions.
Have you ever been taken aback by an unexpected question from one of your students during a tutoring lesson? Join Neil today as he discusses how to answer your student’s troubling questions and why you are a great source to answer them. Discover why it is important to immediately deal with your students’ query, how answering their anxieties can increase your value to them and why your own personal experiences can help shape the answer they need.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- An unexpected question asked during your tutoring session from your student is often something that has been troubling them for years. If they have been playing from their teens and are now in their sixties and they have finally figured out that it is worth getting lessons, then the tutor is able to be the source that answers that question for them.
- When a student asks you an unexpected question, answer it straight away. Otherwise, with that nagging question in their minds you will struggle to engage with them on the planned material, and so will you. The question has precedence and has put down some roots in the mind. It is hogging their attention and you should deal with it. If it is not dealt with the real material will bounce off their defences.
- Depending on how you’re wired up, how you respond to that question can be a problem, or it can be a chance to be of greater service and value to your students. If you’re hard-wired into the syllabus, the chances are it is a problem that needs getting rid of. If you have the knowledge and experience to formulate a solution for your students, then this is your golden moment. When you answer that question and resolve the years of anxiety then you have just ratcheted up your value to them.
- Answering their unexpected questions earns you loyalty and confirms you as their authority figure. The very fact that you care enough to shift your focus demonstrates that your student’s outcome matters more to you than dogmatically following the lesson plan.
- As tutors, by being useful you are able to help students by moving their lives in the direction of their dreams. You are able to help them become the people they would like to be. It is a fabulous way to make a living, and if you share all the insights and knowledge that you have to build up throughout the years, you are even more useful than if you confine yourself to a single narrow field of excellence.
- As you figure out the answers and effectively communicate the answers to your students, you make new connections. You are able to discover new routes and conduits for your subject matter or an unrelated subject. As everybody knows the teacher always receives the best listeners. The most valuable lessons of all are taught to us when we teach what's uncommon and what’s hard to teach.
BEST MOMENTS
“These little unexpected squirrels and the rabbit holes that take us off track are really where the gold is.”
“You’ve demonstrated by your actions that you’re present for them and that you are able to respond to their needs You’ve made the lesson more about them and you have drawn on your own expertise and knowledge”
“It is the greatest thing about what we do day in day out. We get to be more useful.”
VALUABLE RESOURCES
- Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)!
- Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724
ABOUT THE HOST
Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS!
CONTACT METHOD
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By Neil Cowmeadow
4.5
1010 ratings
Have you ever been taken aback by an unexpected question from one of your students during a tutoring lesson? Join Neil today as he discusses how to answer your student’s troubling questions and why you are a great source to answer them. Discover why it is important to immediately deal with your students’ query, how answering their anxieties can increase your value to them and why your own personal experiences can help shape the answer they need.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- An unexpected question asked during your tutoring session from your student is often something that has been troubling them for years. If they have been playing from their teens and are now in their sixties and they have finally figured out that it is worth getting lessons, then the tutor is able to be the source that answers that question for them.
- When a student asks you an unexpected question, answer it straight away. Otherwise, with that nagging question in their minds you will struggle to engage with them on the planned material, and so will you. The question has precedence and has put down some roots in the mind. It is hogging their attention and you should deal with it. If it is not dealt with the real material will bounce off their defences.
- Depending on how you’re wired up, how you respond to that question can be a problem, or it can be a chance to be of greater service and value to your students. If you’re hard-wired into the syllabus, the chances are it is a problem that needs getting rid of. If you have the knowledge and experience to formulate a solution for your students, then this is your golden moment. When you answer that question and resolve the years of anxiety then you have just ratcheted up your value to them.
- Answering their unexpected questions earns you loyalty and confirms you as their authority figure. The very fact that you care enough to shift your focus demonstrates that your student’s outcome matters more to you than dogmatically following the lesson plan.
- As tutors, by being useful you are able to help students by moving their lives in the direction of their dreams. You are able to help them become the people they would like to be. It is a fabulous way to make a living, and if you share all the insights and knowledge that you have to build up throughout the years, you are even more useful than if you confine yourself to a single narrow field of excellence.
- As you figure out the answers and effectively communicate the answers to your students, you make new connections. You are able to discover new routes and conduits for your subject matter or an unrelated subject. As everybody knows the teacher always receives the best listeners. The most valuable lessons of all are taught to us when we teach what's uncommon and what’s hard to teach.
BEST MOMENTS
“These little unexpected squirrels and the rabbit holes that take us off track are really where the gold is.”
“You’ve demonstrated by your actions that you’re present for them and that you are able to respond to their needs You’ve made the lesson more about them and you have drawn on your own expertise and knowledge”
“It is the greatest thing about what we do day in day out. We get to be more useful.”
VALUABLE RESOURCES
- Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)!
- Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724
ABOUT THE HOST
Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS!
CONTACT METHOD
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